Marshfield slaying suspect may not be in U.S. legally

Tuesday

Sep 27, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 27, 2011 at 11:37 AM

The federal agency in charge of immigration has no record that the man accused of killing his 24-year-old girlfriend in Marshfield entered the U.S. legally, the Plymouth County district attorney’s office said Monday night.

Patrick Ronan

The federal agency in charge of immigration has no record that the man accused of killing his 24-year-old girlfriend in Marshfield entered the U.S. legally, the Plymouth County district attorney’s office said Monday night.

Police seized a questionable Brazilian passport from the alleged killer Monday morning when they found him hiding in a shed off School Street. Authorities say the man, who was identified as Marcelo Almeida, 41, on the passport, stabbed Patricia Fernanda Teixera Frois multiple times on Monday morning in Building 1 in the Village at Marshfield apartment complex.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports that a visa identification number on the passport was issued to a Kuwaiti woman in 2003, Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Bridget Norton Middleton said. The investigation to confirm the suspect’s identity is continuing, she added.

Almeida was in police custody Monday night at South Shore Hospital, where he is recovering from injuries. He was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. after he fled the apartment complex with a knife, leaving a trail of blood in nearby parking lots, police said.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz could not verify the cause or extent of his injuries. His office later said the suspect’s injuries were not inflicted by law enforcement personnel.

Middleton said said the date, time and place of Almeida’s arraignment depend on his health. She said his condition will likely prevent him from being taken to court today, which may lead to a bed-side arraignment at the hospital. If his condition doesn’t improve, he may not be charged today, she said.

Police received a call at 8:01 a.m. that a woman had been stabbed at the apartment building at the corner of Route 139 and Fox Run. Marshfield police found Frois lying in the foyer of the building, Cruz said. She was taken to South Shore Hospital and pronounced dead at 8:30 a.m.

Claudia DaSilveira of Brockton, Frois’ cousin, said she saw Almeida at a Quincy nightclub Saturday night. He was the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Frois, a housekeeper and an employee at the Wendy’s restaurant in Marshfield.

DaSilveira said Frois had a rocky relationship with her boyfriend, who went by the nickname ‘‘Broco.”

“They had a lot of problems. She tried to get out of the relationship for the past six months, but I don’t think he accepted it,” DaSilveira said.

DaSilveira said Frois and her boyfriend are native Brazilians who moved to Marshfield about four years ago. They have a 5-year-old child named Bruno who lives with relatives in Brazil, she said.

The couple had lived together before Frois moved in with a neighbor to get away from her boyfriend, the victim’s cousin said.

Doug Granville, the director of operations at the Wendy’s in Marshfield, said Frois was legally permitted to work at the restaurant, which he said conducts green-card checks on all its employees. Granville said Frois was a hard worker and a reliable employee whom everyone liked.

Tina Reed, a neighbor and co-worker of the victim, said she was shocked by Frois’ death.

Officials said Monday’s incident was the first homicide in Marshfield in more than 10 years. The State Police’s dog and air units, Marshfield and Scituate police, the Old Colony Anti-Crime Task Unit and the FBI assisted in the search for the killer, Cruz said.

Patrick Ronan is at pronan@ledger.com.

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